Memória e identidade em Jaguariaíva, Paraná: contribuição à cartografia escolar

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

HOME RANGES AND MOVEMENTS OF COYOTES IN THE NORTHERN CHIHUAHUAN DESERT

The coyote (Canis latrans) is among the most studied animals in North America. Because of its adaptability and success as a predator, the coyote has flourished and is still expanding its range. Coyotes can now be found throughout most of North America and south into Central America (Voight and Berg 1987). Studies in recent years have been extensive to understand the interrelationships of prey and coyotes (Shelton and Klindt 1974, Beckoff and Wells 1981), as well as demographic relationships (Davis et al. 1975, Knowlton and Stoddart 1978, Mitchell 1979, Bowen 1981) and feeding strategies (Todd and Keith 1976, Andelt et al. 1987, MacCracken and Hansen 1987, Gese et al. 1988a). With the advance of radio telemetry, researchers have investigated lifestyle characteristics spatially with home ranges or temporally with movements in relation to habitat requirements. Researchers have studied home ranges of coyotes in various regions of the United States (Livaitis and Shaw 1980, Andelt 1981, Springer 1982, Pyrah 1984, Gese et al. 1988a) and Canada (Bowen 1982). Some studies of home range were separated by season (Ozoga and Harger 1966) or relation to nearby food sources (Danner and Smith 1980). Home range analysis in relation to social interactions of coyotes has been either neglected, overlooked, or avoided. Gese et al. (1988a) recognized a transient class of coyote by home range size. Coyote social systems are very complex and can vary by season or locality in addition to some reports of group or pack systems (Hamlin and Schweitzer 1979, Beckoff and Wells 1981, Bowen 1981, Gese et al. 1988b). Coyotes maintain communication with conspecifics through vocal and olfactory signals (Lehner 1987, Bowen and McTaggert Cowan 1980). Social interactions may be by far the most complex and least understood aspect related to coyote ecology. Coyote movements can be related to many factors including food, water, cover, and social interactions. Movements in relation to food sources are well documented (Fitch 1948, Todd and Keith 1976, Danner and Smith 1980) although reports on movements in relation to water have not been reported, probably because of limited research in desert situations. There has been some mention of coyotes' movements in relation to cover (Wells and Beckoff 1982). The objectives of this study were to delineate annual and seasonal home ranges, movements, and habitat use of coyotes in the northern Chihuahuan desert.

Memória e identidade em Jaguariaíva, Paraná: contribuição à cartografia escolar

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Application of Microsatellite Primers Developed for Polistes in the Independent-Founding Wasp Polists satan Bequaert (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Microsatellite primers developed for a given species are sometimes useful for another in the same genus and in other genera within the same family, making possible to search for pre-existing suitable primers in the databanks such as GenBank. We examined whether existing primers developed for Polistes could be used for Polistes satan Bequaert. We tested 50 microsatellite primers from three Polistes species and found that six microsatellite loci show polymorphism in size in P. satan. These six loci were highly polymorphic, having four to 15 alleles in P. satan with an expected heterozygosity of 0.525-0.832. These loci can be used to study parameters concerning genetic relatedness such as social interactions in colonies and genetic conflicts of interest among nestmate individuals.

Characterization of the motor performance in infants with a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy in process of rehabilitation: the importance of the proactivity of caregivers

Introduction: The progress in technology, associated to the high survival rate in premature newborn infants in neonatal intensive care units, causes an increase in morbidity. Individuals with CP present complex motor alterations, with primary deficits of abnormal muscle tone affecting posture and voluntary movement, alteration of balance and coordination, decrease of force, and loss of selective motor control with secondary problems of contractures and bone deformities. Objective: The aim of this work is to describe the spontaneous movement and strategies that lead infants with cerebral palsy to move. Methods: Seven infants used to receive assistance at the Essential Stimulation Center of CIAM (Israeli Center for Multidisciplinary Support - Philanthropic Institution), with ages ranging between six and 18 months with diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy (CP) were assessed. Results: The results show the difficulty presented by the infants with respect to the spontaneous motor functions and the necessity of help from the caregiver in order to perform the functional activity (mobility). Prematurity prevails as the major risk factor among the complications. Conclusion: The child development can be understood as a product of the dynamic interactions involving the infant, the family, and the context. Thus, the social interactions and family environment in which the infant live may encourage or limit both the acquisition of skills and the functional independence.

Hypoactivity of the central dopaminergic system and autistic-like behavior induced by a single early prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the behavioral patterns associated with autism and the prevalence of these behaviors in males and females, to verify whether our model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration represents an experimental model of autism. For this, we prenatally exposed Wistar rats to LPS (100 mu g/kg, intraperitoneally, on gestational day 9.5), which mimics infection by gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, because the exact mechanisms by which autism develops are still unknown, we investigated the neurological mechanisms that might underlie the behavioral alterations that were observed. Because we previously had demonstrated that prenatal LPS decreases striatal dopamine (DA) and metabolite levels, the striatal dopaminergic system (tyrosine hydroxylase [TH] and DA receptors D1a and D2) and glial cells (astrocytes and microglia) were analyzed by using immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, and real-time PCR. Our results show that prenatal LPS exposure impaired communication (ultrasonic vocalizations) in male pups and learning and memory (T-maze spontaneous alternation) in male adults, as well as inducing repetitive/restricted behavior, but did not change social interactions in either infancy (play behavior) or adulthood in females. Moreover, although the expression of DA receptors was unchanged, the experimental animals exhibited reduced striatal TH levels, indicating that reduced DA synthesis impaired the striatal dopaminergic system. The expression of glial cell markers was not increased, which suggests that prenatal LPS did not induce permanent neuroinflammation in the striatum. Together with our previous finding of social impairments in males, the present findings demonstrate that prenatal LPS induced autism-like effects and also a hypoactivation of the dopaminergic system. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The language of action. How language translates the dynamics of our actions.

The general aim of the thesis was to investigate how and to what extent the characteristics of action organization are reflected in language, and how they influence language processing and understanding. Even though a huge amount of research has been devoted to the study of the motor effects of language, this issue is very debated in literature. Namely, the majority of the studies have focused on low-level motor effects such as effector-relatedness of action, whereas only a few studies have started to systematically investigate how specific aspects of action organization are encoded and reflected in language. After a review of previous studies on the relationship between language comprehension and action (chapter 1) and a critical discussion of some of them (chapter 2), the thesis is composed by three experimental chapters, each devoted to a specific aspect of action organization. Chapter 3 presents a study designed with the aim to disentangle the effective time course of the involvement of the motor system during language processing. Three kinematics experiments were designed in order to determine whether and, at which stage of motor planning and execution effector-related action verbs influence actions executed with either the same or a different effector. Results demonstrate that the goal of an action can be linguistically re-activated, producing a modulation of the motor response. In chapter 4, a second study investigates the interplay between the role of motor perspective (agent) and the organization of action in motor chains. More specifically, this kinematics study aims at deepening how goal can be translated in language, using as stimuli simple sentences composed by a pronoun (I, You, He/She) and a verb. Results showed that the perspective activated by the pronoun You reflects the motor pattern of the “agent” combined with the chain structure of the verb. These data confirm an early involvement of the motor system in language processing, suggesting that it is specifically modulated by the activation of the agent’s perspective. In chapter 5, the issue of perspective is specifically investigated, focusing on its role in language comprehension. In particular, this study aimed at determining how a specific perspective (induced for example by a personal pronoun) modulates motor behaviour during and after language processing. A classical compatibility effect (the Action-sentence compatibility effect) has been used to this aim. In three behavioural experiments the authors investigated how the ACE is modulated by taking first or third person perspective. Results from these experiments showed that the ACE effect occurs only when a first-person perspective is activated by the sentences used as stimuli. Overall, the data from this thesis contributed to disentangle several aspects of how action organization is translated in language, and then reactivated during language processing. This constitutes a new contribution to the field, adding lacking information on how specific aspects such as goal and perspective are linguistically described. In addition, these studies offer a new point of view to understand the functional implications of the involvement of the motor system during language comprehension, specifically from the point of view of our social interactions.

L'intelligenza emotiva in età evolutiva

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has increasingly gained widespread popularity amongst both lay people and scientists in a wide range of contexts and across several research areas. In spite of rigorous inquiry into its applications in educational, social, health and clinical settings, substantial disagreement exists regarding the definition of EI, with respect to both terminology and operationalizations. Actually, there is a consensus about a conceptual distinction between Trait EI, or trait emotional self-efficacy (Petrides & Furnham, 2001), and Ability EI, or cognitive-emotional ability (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Trait EI is measured via self-report questionnaires, whereas Ability EI is assessed via maximum performance tests. Moreover, EI is the broadest of the emotional constructs, and it subsumes various constructs, as Emotional Awareness (Lane & Schwartz, 1987). To date, EI research has focused primarily on adults, with fewer studies conducted with child samples. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of different models of EI in childhood and early adolescence (N = 670; 353 females; Mage= 10.25 years ; SD = 1.57). In addition, a further goal is to evaluate the relationship of each construct with personality, non verbal cognitive intelligence, school performance, peer relationships, and affective disorders (anxiety and depression). Results shows significant correlations between Trait EI and Emotional Awareness, whereas Trait and Ability EI appear as independent constructs. We also found significant positive associations between age and Ablity EI and Emotional Awareness (although with add of verbal productivity), while gender differences emerged in favour of females in all EI-related measures. The results provide evidence that Trait EI is partially determined by all of the Big Five personality dimensions, but independent of cognitive ability. Finally, the present study highlights the role of EI on social interactions, school performance and, especially, a negative relationship between Trait EI and psychopathology.

La città divisa. Conflittualità, confini, prove di comunità

Il presente lavoro approfondisce le tematiche della conflittualità e della separazione etnica, sociale, religiosa, generazionale e culturale. In particolare, riporta i risultati di ricerche condotte in alcuni degli attuali contesti urbani più carichi di tensioni conflittuali, cercando di individuare i motivi vicini e remoti del confligere, le attività messe in atto per contenere le tensioni e le relative necessità educative poste in primo piano. L’elaborato si compone di cinque parti. La prima parte consiste in una riflessione teorica sulle dinamiche che caratterizzano le interazioni sociali nello spazio cittadino. Nella seconda parte viene trattato il tema del settarismo in Scozia, che vede contrapposti i cattolici di origine irlandese (generalmente tifosi della squadra di calcio dei Celtic) e i protestanti di sangue scozzese (generalmente tifosi dei Rangers). La terza parte ricostruisce la storia e il presente della lunga convivenza tra tatari musulmani e russi cristiano-ortodossi nei territori dell’attuale Repubblica etnica del Tatarstan, situata nel cuore della Russia europea, ponendo particolare attenzione agli aspetti religiosi, linguistici, culturali ed educativi. La quarta parte parla del disagio nelle periferie europee, manifestatosi in modo eclatante con le rivolte giovanili in Francia (2005) e nel Regno Unito (2011). La parte conclusiva, infine riprenderà alcuni degli elementi emersi per proporre una riflessione di tipo pedagogico atta ad affrontare in tutta la sua complessità, e con approcci nuovi, il tema della città divisa, con le relative conflittualità, i confini e le prove di comunità.

Lo spazio senso-motorio come rappresentazione dei comportamenti intersoggettivi. Una nuova ipotesi sperimentale dalla filosofia alle neuroscienze

La ricerca ha preso le mosse da tre ipotesi fondamentali: 1) Esiste un legame tra processi cognitivi di basso ed alto livello; 2) Lo spazio senso-motorio è una percezione soggettiva; 3) Lo spazio senso-motorio varia in funzione delle diverse modalità di interazione sociale. La tesi sostiene che lo spazio senso-motorio si lascia modulare dalla semplice co-presenza di un altro agente umano e da interazioni cooperative e non cooperative. I capitoli I, II, III, hanno lo scopo di scomporre e spiegare il significato della prima, seconda e terza ipotesi; giungendo a formulare la tesi centrale che sarà poi dimostrata sperimentalmente nel capitolo IV. Il capitolo V introduce future linee di ricerca nell’ambito dell’etica proponendo una nuova ipotesi sul legame che potrebbe sussistere tra la percezione dello spazio durante l’interazione sociale e i giudizi morali. Il lavoro svolto chiama ad operare insieme diverse discipline che concorrono a formare le scienze cognitive: la storia della filosofia, la filosofia della mente contemporanea, la neuropsicologia sperimentale ed alcuni temi della psicologia sociale.

Studio di alcuni tratti del temperamento nel cane

Il temperamento può essere definito come l’attitudine che un cane esprime verso le persone e verso altri animali, la combinazione di tratti fisici e mentali, acquisiti e non, che determinano il comportamento del cane. Tale parametro delinea perciò il carattere di un individuo, inclinazioni e tendenze, eccitabilità, tristezza, rabbia e il modo caratteristico di comportarsi di un individuo, con particolare riferimento alle interazioni sociali. La presente tesi di Dottorato rappresenta uno studio su alcuni tratti del temperamento nel cane domestico elaborato in 3 progetti sperimentali. Nei primi due progetti sono state analizzate le differenze attitudinali tra alcune razze canine attraverso l’applicazione di un test di temperamento in cuccioli di 60 giorni e in cani adulti, per valutare e confrontarne il temperamento, la socialità ed identificare profili tipici di razza. Nel terzo progetto un campione di cani morsicatori di canile e di proprietà è stato confrontato con due rispettivi gruppi di controllo. Analizzando i risultati è stato possibile mettere in evidenza caratteristiche di razza omogenee nell’interazione con stimoli inanimati, nelle interazioni sociali e in relazione alla possessività e sono stati delineati profili di razza sia nei cuccioli sia negli adulti. Si sono tuttavia, osservate variabilità individuali, intra-razza e intra-cucciolata, a testimonianza dell’influenza complessa e multifattoriale delle componenti genetica e ambientale sul comportamento dei cani. Il confronto tra cani morsicatori di canile e di proprietà ha messo in luce interessanti differenze tra i soggetti in termini di reattività, socievolezza, propensione all’interazione con il proprietario o con un estraneo, comportamenti di evitamento e velocità di reazione agli stimoli presentati. Il test applicato è risultato un valido strumento per valutare il temperamento di cani dichiarati aggressivi che sono stati sottoposti a situazioni nuove e a stimoli sconosciuti per poter ottenere una migliore visione d’insieme del temperamento del soggetto.

Characterization of the Caspr2 and NLGN2 ligands: a proteomic and biochemical approach

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of early-onset conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by deficits in social interactions and communication, as well as by restricted interest and repetitive behaviors. Among the proteins associated with this spectrum of disease there are Caspr2, α-NRXN1, NLGN1-4. Caspr2 is involved in the clustering of K+ channels at the juxtaparanodes, where it is proposed to bind TAG-1. Recent works reported a synaptic localization of Caspr2, but little is know on its role in this compartment. NRXNs and their ligand NLGNs, instead, have a well-defined role in the formation and maintenance of synapses. Among the neuroligins, NLGN2 binds NRXNs with the lowest affinity, suggesting that it could have other not yet characterized ligands. The aim of this work was to better characterize the binding of Caspr2 to TAG-1 and to identify new potential binding partner for Caspr2 and NLGN2. Unexpectedly, using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry and co-immunoprecipitation experiments the direct association of the first two proteins could not be verified and the results indicate that the first evidences reporting it were biased by false-positive artifacts. These findings, together with the uncharacterized synaptic localization of Caspr2, made the identification of new potential binding partners for this protein necessary. To find new proteins that associate with Caspr2 and NLGN2, affinity chromatography in tandem with mass spectrometry experiments were performed. Interestingly, about 25 new potential partners were found for these two proteins and NLGN1, that was originally included as a control: 5 of those, namely SFRP1, CLU, APOE, CNTN1 and TNR, were selected for further investigations. Only the association of CLU to NLGN2 was confirmed. In the future, screenings of the remaining candidates have to be carried out and the functional role for the proposed NLGN2-CLU complex has to be studied.

Wählen im räumlichen Kontext : eine empirische Untersuchung zum Einfluss der sozialen Komposition des Wahlkreises auf die individuelle Wahlentscheidung bei der Bundestagswahl 2009

Die meisten Studien der empirischen Wahlforschung führen das Wählverhalten bei deutschen Bundestagswahlen gemäß den bewährten Erklärungsansätzen (Columbia School, Cleavage-Theorie, Michigan School, …) auf Faktoren der Individualebene zurück. Nur wenige analysieren darüber hinaus den Einfluss räumlicher Kontextmerkmale. Diese Beiträge gelangen zudem zu widersprüchlichen Befunden, z.B. darüber, welcher Anteil der Gesamtvarianz überhaupt durch Kontextfaktoren erklärt werden kann. Daher will die vorliegende Arbeit klären, inwiefern die soziale Komposition des räumlichen Kontexts über individuelle Merkmale der Wähler hinaus ihre individuelle Wahlentscheidung bei der Bundestagswahl 2009 beeinflusst hat. Dazu wird zunächst ein räumliches Mehrebenen-Modell des individuellen Wahlverhaltens entwickelt, das den Einfluss von Kontextmerkmalen u.a. auf soziale Interaktionsmechanismen innerhalb der Kontexteinheiten zurückführt. Zudem werden die zentralen individuellen Erklärungsfaktoren der oben genannten Theorien (Parteiidentifikation, Kandidaten-, Sachfragen-Orientierung, soziale Gruppenzugehörigkeit) in das Modell integriert. Auf Grundlage von Daten der German Longitudinal Election Study werden anschließend logistische Mehrebenen-Modelle für die alten und erstmals auch für die neuen Bundesländer und Deutschland geschätzt. Erstmals werden zudem Wahlkreise als relevante Kontexteinheiten untersucht. Es zeigt sich, dass ein kleiner Teil der Varianz der individuellen Wahlentscheidung allein auf Merkmale des Wahlkreises zurückgeführt werden kann. Es treten sowohl direkte Kontexteffekte als auch Mehrebenen-Interaktionseffekte auf, die sich jedoch in ihrer Wirkung zwischen den Regionen und auch zwischen den Parteien erheblich unterscheiden.

Agent-based simulation for renewable energy incentive design

In this thesis, we propose a novel approach to model the diffusion of residential PV systems. For this purpose, we use an agent-based model where agents are the families living in the area of interest. The case study is the Emilia-Romagna Regional Energy plan, which aims to increase the produc- tion of electricity from renewable energy. So, we study the microdata from the Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) provided by Bank of Italy in order to obtain the characteristics of families living in Emilia-Romagna. These data have allowed us to artificial generate families and reproduce the socio-economic aspects of the region. The families generated by means of a software are placed on the virtual world by associating them with the buildings. These buildings are acquired by analysing the vector data of regional buildings made available by the region. Each year, the model determines the level of diffusion by simulating the installed capacity. The adoption behaviour is influenced by social interactions, household’s economic situation, the environmental benefits arising from the adoption and the payback period of the investment.

Nasolabial esthetics in children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate after 1- versus 3-stage treatment protocols

PURPOSE: Facial esthetics play an important role in social interactions. However, children with a repaired complete unilateral cleft lip and palate usually show some disfigurement of the nasolabial area. To date, few studies have assessed the nasolabial appearance after different treatment protocols. The aim of the present study was to compare the nasolabial esthetics after 1- and 3-stage treatment protocols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four components of the nasolabial appearance (nasal form, nasal deviation, mucocutaneous junction, and profile view) were assessed by 4 raters in 108 consecutively treated children who had undergone either 1-stage closure (Warsaw group, 41 boys and 19 girls, mean age 10.8 years, SD 2.0) or 3-stage (Nijmegen group, 30 boys and 18 girls, mean age 8.9 years, SD 0.7). A 5-grade esthetic index of Asher-McDade was used, in which grade 1 indicates the most esthetic and grade 5 the least esthetic outcome. RESULTS: The nasal form was judged the least esthetic in both groups and graded 3.1 (SD 1.1) and 3.2 (SD 1.1). The nasal deviation, mucocutaneous junction, and profile view were scored from 2.1 (SD 0.8) to 2.3 (SD 1.0) in both groups. The treatment outcome after the Warsaw and Nijmegen protocols was comparable. Neither overall nor any of the 4 components of the nasolabial appearance showed intercenter differences (P > .1). CONCLUSIONS: The nasolabial appearance after the Warsaw (1-stage) and Nijmegen (3-stage) protocols was comparable. The technique of lip repair (triangular flap in Warsaw and Millard rotation advancement in Nijmegen) gave comparable results for the esthetics of the nasolabial area.